Spectroscopy based techniques are useful for detecting various macromolecular assemblies with varying chemical or structural contrasts.  Molecules have unique vibrational characteristics that arise from the identity of the elements that form the molecule, how these elements are assembled, and surrounding molecules. Our research uses the local electromagnetic fields resulting from the excitation of conduction band electronics of metal nanostructures to enhance Raman scattering from molecules in close proximity.  This electromagnetic field enhancement provides a sensitive label-free probe of chemical environments.  We utilize these enhancements for both imaging and trace analyte detection.  We have coupled tip-enhanced Raman scattering (TERS) with nanoparticle probes to obtain chemical, structural, and spatial information simultaneously from phenomena such as protein-ligand interactions. Additionally we have developed nanostructured surfaces that enable high signal to noise Raman measurements on micro- to milli- second time scales.  The enhancements observed indicate limits of detection at the single molecule level.

Nanostructures for label-free detection and imaging of biomolecules

244th National Meeting (2012)

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